The Elbe Track Line (ETL), is a very exciting find for all those involved. During the initial on-site investigation of the tracks, which occurred the day the original report was filed with the BFRO and Cliff Barackman, the ETL looked quite real. From looking at the tracks, and estimating them to be only a day or two old, they looked real and present some unique observations that could be applied to other finds in the future. It generated a great deal of excitement and everyone who heard about it could not wait for more information and confirmation that the investigation proved them real. Social networks became quite active discussing the find, in particular where exactly the track line was. Anybody who had a chance to see the track line first hand quickly leaned towards them as being genuine.

Over the next five days, a team of researchers came together to document the ETL in more detail than any other purported sasquatch track line in history. Each track was photographed. Video of the entire ETL was taken in HD. The ETL was surveyed and laid out on a base line with the position and elevation of every track recorded. Over a 5 day period, every castable track was cast, and are now in the process of being cleaned, stabilized, and examined.

The team has been in regular communication and discussion about what we have observed. We are seeing things about the ETL itself, as well as the individual track casts, that are causing some of us to have some questions and doubts. At this time we are not saying that the ETL is a hoax, nor can we conclude that it is genuine due to these questions. The casts need more examination by experts like Dr. Jeff Meldrum.

One the policies of the BFRO to validate that any report is genuine is that investigators are required to talk with the reporting witness(es). A witness who will not talk with an investigator, in person or over the phone, is immediately under suspicion, and as such, the report itself falls under suspicion. In this case, the witness has not provided investigators with a phone number. The only communication thus far has been via e-mail. This is a problem. We have asked the witness to meet us, and have offered to give him one of the casts in thanks. As of this writing, we have not received any e-mail response, or phone calls. This leads us to question the reliability of the reporting witness, and also casts a cloud over determining the validity of the ETL.

I am inviting the witness to help us clear up the questions that we have by talking with us face to face. If the witness wishes to be anonymous to the public, then we will respect that and not reveal in any way who that person is. However, we still need to talk to him.

Until then, we can not complete our investigation nor come to any formal conclusions.